HTC foretells 2012 move to 4G in US, 'advanced markets'

HTC sold almost twice as many smartphones in the third quarter of this year than it did in the same period last year, according to its quarterly results.

It's no wonder the Great Patent Wars are hotting up, as the Android and Microsoft partner sold 13.2 million mobes in July to September, up 93 per cent from 2010's third quarter, which should definitely be enough to make Apple sit up and take notice.

The Taiwanese firm said its after-tax profit for the quarter was NT$18.68bn (£390m), a 68 per cent increase on the same time last year.

China is the company's main market for its phones, with sales volumes there nine times higher than in the third quarter 2010.

"China is one of the most important growth regions for HTC, and China reported top sales growth across all regions this quarter," the company said in a canned statement.

"[HTC] aims to capture early brand preference in China, as smartphone penetration is at an early stage," it added.

The firms was also touting its 4G devices, claiming a leadership position in LTE because of the large lineup of handsets it has that support the standard.

"An LTE device upgrade cycle is foreseeable in 2012 in both the United States and some advanced markets in Asia (eg, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong). HTC is poised to capture an advantage in this market," it said.

As the company is doing so well, it is also planning to build a new factory in the Taiwanese province of Taoyuan, where the company is headquartered, which will increase its capacity by 40 million units.

HTC expects good things for next quarter as well, when it expects to ship around the same number of phones: 12 to 13 million. ®